BENGALURU : As he strums the chords of guitar, singing some Bollywood melodies, a crowd gathers around him, to even take his videos and posts them online. The satisfaction he gets when he sees that his music is finding space on peoples’ phone memory card, is what keeps Shubham Gautam going. The musician finds his space and does gigs across the city, often in malls and restaurants. The 23-year-old budding artiste is often spotted playing at Mallika restaurant in Koramangala. Shubham says, “Mostly people just walk in and tell waiters that they would not like to order any food but just listen to my music.” Though he’s happy with booked shows on weekends and the appreciation he receives from people, he’s waiting for a big break too.
“Until now, I haven’t received great exposure. The industry supports those who have already made it big in the scene. I was watching an interview of Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri. He had said during his struggling days, he did not even have proper shoes. He didn’t get any support and now that he is popular and can afford great shoes, he gets them for free,” he adds.
Shubham says he realised his passion for music during his boarding school days. “I used to be a very mediocre singer back then. I would sing in the bathroom and my friends would mock me. They would ask me to shut up. But I knew I was interested in singing, so I would keep practising using my phone. No one encouraged me except my music teacher,” he recalls. “Later, one of my friends gifted me a two-piece speaker for my birthday and I started practising with that,” he says.
But, he started losing interest in studies and would bunk classes. He says, “I would go to a cafe in Noida and jam with musicians there. We formed a band and started doing shows and gigs in Delhi and nearby places.” After college, he continued going to the cafe for three months to jam with them. The band members then moved on their different paths and he also shifted to Bengaluru. “When I was searching for a PG along with my friend, I saw a guy walking by with a guitar on his back. I spoke to him to understand the music scene here and continued pursuing it. I used to teach the guitar at an academy in Whitefield. But I couldn’t cope with my job, classes and gigs. So, I discontinued teaching,” he says.
Belonging to a joint family in Bihar, he says his family wasn’t really supportive as well. “My father is a teacher. He used to teach me all subjects at home, he’s very strict and expected me to score well. Everyone in the family used to try to make me understand that it’s not possible to earn a living out of music. But they never said not to pursue it either. Even when I left my job and was trying to pursue music, they didn’t say anything,” he says. But, after three months, he took a job again at a BPO as it was difficult to make ends meet.
Shubham says he has recently created a Facebook page ShubHumming Live. He doesn’t post videos on his YouTube channel regularly as he feels video of his gig isn’t perfect. “Every time, I watch and listen to myself, I find mistakes and try to work on it. Until I find a video with least mistakes, I do not post them online,” he says adding, “I believe good things are yet to come. Slowly, my passion would lead me there.”
His Facebook page is piling up with positive reviews about his music. Seeing the response he is getting on Facebook, his friends who used to call him besura kauva (croaking crow) now support and encourage him to pursue his passion.